2016 Overview + Looking Back on Goals

Hello from the Philippines! I've been having such a great time here, hence the lack of posts (which I warned about haha) but at the same time I'm also getting new ideas for future posts, and potentially... videos? 

Anyway, 2016 was a huge year of transitions for me. I moved to Australia, I got married, and I've been pretty much adulting for the rest of the year after that hahaha. Although a good chunk of my life wasn't documented here as it happened, I was still pretty active on social media (ahem, Instagram), and don't worry, many things I've experienced this year can also be saved for separate posts next year ;)

With the blog, I took a purposeful hiatus this time. Last year it was accidental and this year, while it was initially unintentional, I decided that I can't apologize for living my life in the moment. HOWEVER, I have gotten back into writing more regularly and it's been good (despite me being on vacation & slacking here haha, but you understand). Instead of pressuring myself to get straight back into my old schedule when I'd write 3 times a week, I now just have one post up a week until I feel comfortable to get back into more frequent posting.  As I've done with previous years, let's look through my goals for this year: 

Blog Goals: 
[] Get back to at least 2 posts per week  [] Send out a biweekly newsletter [] Have Instagram following hit 1500 [] Have Twitter following hit 1k [] Meet up with at least 4 other bloggers/influencers [] Start selling something (whether physical or digital) [] Make the move to self-hosted [Does my wedding count if I use the photos for my blog? haha] Pose in at least one full-on photoshoot (with a makeup artist/hair stylist, photographer, etc) 
Personal Goals: [] Go on a road trip with friends (carry over from last year) [x] Take at least two major trips (domestic or international) [x] Move. away from SoCal (;  [] Read at least 6 novels for pleasure [x] Go on a trip with Darell to anywhere [x] Become fully self-sufficient (parents do not financially support in any way at all) [] Take some kind of creative class (dance, crafting, etc) [x] Regularly attend a small group

Okay, so I clearly slacked in my blog goals but like I said, I'm not going to apologize for living my life! That's the hardest part about being a content creator, I think. It's the fact that while it's something you love, you always need to be thinking about the next thing. When you're out with friends, it may be taking photos or videos for a blog/vlog post. When you're at home with your partner relaxing, you might actually be writing instead or planning out what to do next. It's a hard thing to do, but it is definitely worth it when you can nail it all down. For me personally, having a full time job also really drained me from being able to write as much as I wanted to, but thankfully I'm done with that so I can focus more here!

Having said all that, I am pretty proud of myself and my personal goals, however! I accomplished almost all of them, which is really great. I went to Gold Coast, Australia and here now to the Philippines for my two major trips. I moved away from Southern California. On my trips I went to this year, I went with Darell, my new husband :) I have become fully self sufficient financially. And I also finally began regularly attending small group at church, something I hadn't done for maybe two years or so until this year. 

I've been seeing a lot of memes about people saying 2016 wasn't that great of a year, it wasn't anyone's year, etc, but honestly it was my best year yet! Yes, it was the hardest and most emotionally draining for many reasons (hello, US election) but I wouldn't change anything I did this year for the world. I'm excited (but kinda shocked) that 2016 is done already, and I cannot wait for whatever next year brings! 

I hope you are able to celebrate the end of this new year on a positive note even if the year itself wasn't very positive! Happy new year, and I will see you next year ;)

The 6th Day After Christmas: Top 13 Life Moments of 2013

It is day 6 and the final day of the countdown to the new year! Thank you for following along with me as I reminisced on some great times throughout this year, but now it is time to count down my top 13 life moments of the year!

It is safe to say that 2013 was a year of change, not only in myself, but in the world around me. I've met so many people, done so many things, and had so many great memories this year, and it is time to reflect on my personal life in a more holistic way before closing this chapter and moving onto next year.

1. Valentine's Day

Valentine's day was actually a big deal to me this year. It was my most memorable and most fun Valentine's day yet!

In the past few Valentine's days before this year, Darell never really bothered to do anything for me because he didn't think it should've been a big deal. This year, I was in my first year of college (at the time) and it was the first holiday that we had a chance to spend together after not being able to see each other for the past few major holidays. I think that this day represented a shift in our relationship for the better, that we were maturing.

Darell had hinted around visiting me for Valentine's Day, but I couldn't take it too seriously, otherwise I'd be disappointed if he didn't. However, the day before, as I walk out of my last class of the day, there he is, standing at the door with a bouquet of roses! I could not have been more shocked! He later told me, "I felt like my heart was going to burst because I was so nervous... when I saw you I couldn't see anything else"

Aww! What a sweetheart! The rest of the day was simple after that--he gave me my favorite chocolates and I gave him my gift to him before we went off campus to eat Flame Broiler for dinner. When we came back, we hung around campus for a bit before going to Shine, my school's weekly worship night. It was an amazing day indeed.

2. Journalism Conference in San Francisco